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Sunday, November 5, 2017

October's county, city, and school district news was again dominated by recovery efforts after Hurricane Irma. But there was also coverage of our elected officials' efforts to address ongoing challenges of the environment, health and human services, economic development, and school board and district operations.

Collier beach renourishment still years away. Early estimates put a price tag of $30 million to $40 million on the project, which would likely have to be done with an offshore dredge, rather than with dump trucks. County officials are counting on FEMA to reimburse about 75 percent of the cost; the county and state would split the rest. Naples Daily News

Collier commissioners may create new stormwater fee in February. Pipes and culverts are well past their useful life in older parts of the county and have started to fail in at least one area, while the county is struggling to keep up with the demands of new homes entering the system. Unless taxes are cut as an offset, the new utility would almost certainly amount to a tax hike for property owners. Naples Daily News

Did you know? I've been writing Sparker's Soapbox with the goal of helping inform Collier voters since May 2014! The current Month in Review series began in May 2017. You can read and search past issues in the Blog Archive on my website, www.sparkers-soapbox.com. There you will also find a page on how to find your elected officials (here) as well as a page with links to the websites of the elected bodies that represent Collier voters (here).

Finally, in case you missed them, here are links to my three most recent posts: